The owner of a new shop in Redhill said he was “appalled” when his business received a one out of five for food hygiene, claiming flies found on the premises were down to the door being left open on a hot day.

United Oriental and Asian Mini Mart, which moved into a previously vacant unit at Volt House in High Street, Redhill, was inspected on July 25.

The full report has been released to Get Surrey following a Freedom of Information request to Reigate and Banstead Borough Council, who carried out the inspection on behalf of the Food Standards Agency.

The report states: "At the time of my inspection there were a number of flies found on your premises. These pests carry food poisoning bacteria and can contaminate food and food surfaces they land on.

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"The door to the rear storage area was left open and provided easy access for these pests."

Ahmed Faisal, owner of the store which opened in December 2016, said: "I'm not happy with the report because the store is brand new."

He added: "It's appalling, I know. I was not expecting it. My previous business was rated as a five and it was not as clean or as new as this one, so it came as a shock.

Mr Faisal explained the reasoning behind the flies, saying that the day the inspector visited was very hot, and the door was left open for ventilation.

The inspector told the business to "pay extra attention to [cleaning] the handles of the freezers" (Image: Reigate and Banstead Borough Council)

“We have fly killers, the door is always closed and we have things in place to stop that happening now,” he said.

Another critique in the report was to do with the store room flooring. The report read: "The floor covering in the rear store room was dirty; thoroughly clean the floor and maintain in a clean condition."

Responding to this, Mr Faisal said: "The floor is not dirty, it's because the flooring is old."

Since the report, Mr Faisal said he and the staff are taking steps to make sure everything is hygienic and that they are ready for the next inspection date, which is still to be confirmed.

The floor in the store room (Image: Reigate and Banstead Borough Council)

He said: "We are already struggling as a new business and when you have a rating like that it affects the business.

"We are all doing work to make sure everything is covered and clean so we're ready for the next inspection."

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